Kughralga
Classification and Dialects Phonology Kughralga has a moderate but sometimes unusual phoneme inventory. It is relatively consonant-heavy with distinguishing circa thirty consonants, but only four vowel phonemes. Consonants Kughralga has a moderately big consonant inventory containinɡ some rather unusual sounds like the lateral affricates t͡ɬ and d͡ɮ or the voiced uvular plosive ɢ. ŋ and ɴ are allophones of n in front of velar (k, ɡ, x and ɣ) or uvular (q, ɢ, χ and ʁ) consonants. Vowels Kughralga has just four vowel quantities. It lacks the mid-front e and the mid-back o often found in European languages. ɛ and ɔ are allophones of i and u in front of uvular consonants. Phonotactics Voiceless prefixes or suffixes become voiced when they Grammar The grammar of Kughrulga is quite complex, with heavy use of prefixes and suffixes. Although mostly strongly agglutinating, it also has some undeniable polysynthetic traits. Basic word order is SOV, although variations are not unusual with the most common being OSV, SVO and OVS. Kughralga is an ergative-absolutive language. Affixiation can lead to very long sentence-like words, e.g.: Tsqvaghdzɡraxhzrash. - We would not have circled you (if...) t͡sqvaɣd͡zɡraʁzraʃ ts-q-va-ɡh-dz-ɡraxh-zra-sh - 1ex.sg.erg-perf-neg-2.sg.abs-indirect-circle-make-pl The most important part of Kughralga grammar - and by means the most complex - is the verb. Furthermore, Kughralga knows no adjectives; like a lot of languages, it uses intransitive verbs instead. Nouns The Kughralga noun shows - compared to the verb - just little and very regular inflection. Kughralga uses two cases (absolutive and ergative) several number suffixes (some of them are rather derivational suffixes) and possession circumfixes (alienability and inalienability is distinguished). Number & Case Kughralga exhibits a very simple two-case-system with an unmarked'' absolutive'' and an ergative which is indicated by the suffix ''-t''. The absolutive, the basic form of every noun, is used for the subject of an intransitive verb, the direct object of a transitive verb, and indirect objects in general. The ergative case is solely used to indicate the subject of a transitive verb. The generic plural suffix is ''-ash'' or ''-sh'' if the noun ends on a vowel. This suffix is used to indicate undefined generic plurality. With numerals, another suffix, the partitive suffix ''-va'' is used. The numerals then behave like normal nouns and can also be inflected. Additionally, the verb agrees now with the numeral instead of the noun. All numerals have a fixed grammatical number. Most of the quantifiers and a lot of numerals are always singular, whereas some numerals (those ending with ''-sh'') take plural agreeement. I am seeing a reindeer. > Mixh dzba'i'''tlak. dzbajtɬak * '''mixh-ø' dz-ba-'i'-tlak > reindeer-abs 1.sg.erg-cont-'3.sg.abs'-see I am seeing reindeers. > Mixhash dzba'in'tlak. dzbajntɬak * mixh-ash-ø dz-ba-'in'-tlak > reindeer-pl-ø 1.sg.erg-cont-'3.pl.abs'-see I am seeing a lot of reindeers. > Khul mixhva dzba''i''tlak. mɛʁva dzbajtɬak * khul-ø mixh-va dz-ba-''i''-tlak > lots.of-abs reindeer-part 1.sg.erg-cont-''3.sg.abs''-see I am seeing three reindeers. > Sqesh mixhva dzba''in''tlak. mɛʁva dzbajntɬak * sqe-sh-ø mixh-va dz-ba-''in''-tlak > three-pl-abs reindeer-part 1.sg.erg-cont-''3.pl.abs''-see A lot of hunters are looking for reindeers. > Khult jirtva mixhash ba''in''cur''t''. dʒirtva mɛʁaʃ bajntʃurt * khul-t jirt-va mixh-ash-ø ba-''in''-ts-shur-''t'' > lots.of-erg hunter-part reindeer-pl-abs cont-''3.pl.abs''-indirect-search-''3.sg.erg'' Possession Possession is indicated by prefixes indicating the possessing person and suffixes indicating alienability and agrees with the number of the possessed noun. The unpossessed form of inalienable nouns does either indicate that the possessor is unknown and unspecified (somebody’s ...) or change the lexical meaning of the noun. Genitive construction The genitive phrase of Kughralga ressembles the Mayan or Hungarian way to express the genitive: While the possessing noun remains unmarked, the possessed noun takes one of the third person possession prefixes (depending on the number of the possessing noun). kuleq ujirtnash > the huntsmen of the chief udʒirtaʃ * kuleq u-jirt-n-ash > chief 3.sg.poss-huntsman-poss-pl quqhash unxudnash > the huts of the villages ɔɴɢudnaʃ * quqh-ash un-xud-n-ash > village-pl 3.pl.poss-hut-poss-pl Postpositions Kughralga uses postpositions rather than prepositions. The noun remains in the unmarked absolutive. They are linked to the noun via a possessive suffix. They often have the same or a similar root of body parts, comparable to the Mayan languages. Some examples of postpositions: Verbs The verb is by far the most complex part of Kughralga morphology. It is inflected for person (1st, 2nd, 3rd) and number (singular and plural) of both subject and object, tense (present, past, future) and aspect (imperfective, perfective, continuous), mood (indicative, subjunctive, optative, narrative, imperative, permittive) and voice (active, passive, reflexive). Ergative and absolutive agreement ''-(e)sh'' is the plurality marker of the verb. The third person suffix ''-t'' is placed in the diathesis slot. The relative prefix is used when an interrogative or relative marker is prefixed. Tense/Aspect (and Negation) Tense and aspect are expressed through one single morpheme which stands between the ergative and the absolutive marker. As we can see, different moods acquire different tense markers. Additionally, not all tenses and aspect can be distinguished in all moods. Most negative forms are simply made by the negative affix -va; however, most tense/aspect markers undergo vocalic changes and the present continuous negative prefix is irregular. Mood Kughralga has an indicative, a subjunctive, an optative (most often used to express wishes or like a polite imperative) and an imperative. All moods - except the imperative - are marked by suffixes in the mood slot. Imperative The imperative follows a different pattern than the other mooods, e.g. it lacks a first person singular. Syntax Lexicon Example text Category:Languages